ScarecrowXOC: Philophobia
by Mrs.Volterra
Summary: Samantha Goduti and Jonathan Crane (the Scarecrow) fell in love in their college days and dated during that time. This is pre TDK, and shows their relationship as it grows. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

**AN: This is Philophobia. I hope that this will be much more well-received by my readers, as I was constantly nagged on my first Scarecrow/OC fic, Second Chances. So therefore I ask of you all: Please NO flaming! Constructive criticism is great and all, but in an anonymous review *cough cough CutTheCrap* I was told I was a bitch who didn't deserve to continue writing. Um, wow? So yeah… Enjoy, then READ and REVIEW!(: Please…**

Prologue

It was a cold, windy day at Gotham University. Dry, crispy brown leaves adorned the campus ground. Being mid-November, the temperature was steadily declining, at a quick, relentless pace. The students retreated earlier than usual to their quarters, knowing the chill of winter had arrived. Only a few of the college's residents would spend even the slightest bit of time outdoors. Among those few was a young woman sitting on a bench.

The woman wore tight denim jeans, with some old gray boots. Her dark, charcoal-colored coat rested finely on her shoulders. As she doodled absentmindedly on a medium-sized sketchbook, she was well-aware of the dark-haired male leaning casually against an old birch tree.

Jonathan Crane studied her from a distance, with a hint longing in his pale blue eyes. Her wavy brown hair cascaded just past her shoulders, curling slightly at her bust. If she had decided to look up, he would meet light green eyes filled with a mysterious look to them. From what he had gathered from observations alone, Samantha Goduti was smart, and beautiful. He wasn't the only who thought so. He'd heard many other men talk about her, but only as a pretty face. Crane believed she was actually intelligent, worthy of his attention. He hadn't really ever talked to her though, never really feeling a need to. But recently, he found his eyes would seek her out, and one day, he caught himself smiling slightly, for no reason whatsoever. Until he realized he was thinking of her. Interesting. He'd never really wanted to have a relationship with someone. He just wanted to finish school, get a good, powerful job.

He had several classes with Samantha; some in which her friends were in, some of which they were not. Hopefully he could use that to his advantage…

Sam stared at Jonathan out of the corner of her eye. He was attractive, handsome even. She had a thing for the whole "dark hair, light eyes" package. He was so smart. He always knew the answers in class, always had his notes done first, in neat, slanted script. Samantha kind of liked him. She wished she could just talk to him a bit, hang out. Her friends could be obnoxious at times, and they just cared about getting laid 24/7. Sure, sex was great and everything, but Samantha wanted to fall in love, and the first step towards that was meeting guys who were more serious and wanted a committed relationship.

"Time to leave, Sam." She muttered to herself. She got up and slung her canvas bag over her arm. She randomly blushed, feeling self-conscious as she knew Crane was still watching her, calm and cool. "And get yourself together." Samantha still had to finish her essay on Shakespearean tragedies…

"Goodbye, Samantha." Jon murmured wearily. He rubbed his temples, feeling confused and tired suddenly. What should he do now? He had all his work for school done, of course. Perhaps he could clean his dorm, though it was already tidied up due to his obsession with being organized. It was becoming worse and worse by the day. At this point he disliked her, what with her muddling his usually calm and controlled thoughts.

Well, maybe he just had to take action…

**AN: Good, bad, so-so? Gotta tell me folks(: I don't know unless you say something about it! Lol, I'm writing this during my class...**

**And yeah I know it's short because it's the prologue so it's sort of meant to be shorter than the other chapters will be…**

**I just got Volume 4 of Batman the Animated Series! It's got Mad Love, Holiday Knights, and all the other awesome episodes. And we got the whole first season of Modern Family on Netflix. Awesomness.**

**Until later my dears…**

**REVIEW! (but no flames or I will track you down…:P) Constructive criticism welcome, ofc.**


	2. Conversation

**AN: It's literally been a year since I first wrote/published this...and I'm surprised at the reviews it has received! Thank you darlings3 Especially CutTheCrap, whom I would like to address:**

**Dear CutTheCrap: I'm ecstatic that you don't think it's awful this time! Looking back on Second Chances, I realize now, being more improved as a writer, that I really was doing terribly, and I appreciate you being honest. I was just so offended at the time, not used to publishing work and getting feedback (negative or positive), and take back the rude, immature things I said to you. Hopefully I will continue to improve my work, and that you will give your admittedly valuable criticism :) Once again, thank you!**

Chapter 1- Conversation

Jonathan entered the large classroom with a bored expression, knowing that the lesson Professor Dilworth was lecturing on today was something they had all learned (hopefully) in high school. The elderly man was droll and was the cause of many students falling asleep. However, he usually did not notice, so enraptured in his own teachings.

Crane's pale blue eyes wandered aimlessly throughout the space, assessing each of his classmates critically. Sitting beside him, there was Derek, a shorter, but more muscular guy with long blonde hair. He was relatively smart, and Jon did not mind as much when he was forced to work with a partner.

Of course, there was Angela Shriver, a shrill, dull girl who irritated almost everyone immensely. Her parents were rich, the only reason she had been accepted into Gotham University, but her marks were higher than many would have guessed, and it was often rumored she slept with teachers to get what she wanted, being spoiled and used to indulgence.

There were twenty-seven students total taking the course in biology. And Jonathan's level of intelligence exceeded all of theirs' easily.

"Hey, Crane." Derek greeted amiably as his acquaintance sat.

"Hello, Derek." No more words passed between them even as the buzz of noise continued around the pair.

As slyly as he could, Jon snuck a look over where he knew Samantha would be sitting, right beside Angela, surrounded by a few others. Of course, she was there, laughing at something Dan Mathers had said,

He couldn't quite place why the girl interested him so much. A month ago, she had been in the large library of Gotham University, and he had watched her diligently. He still remembered being fascinated with the way she absentmindedly ran her fingers through chestnut colored locks, twirling the strands while glaring fiercely at the literature before her.

It was an endearing thing, but what reeled him in was how she chattered incessantly with her friends, laughing often and walking with them cheerfully. Then there was a look in her emerald eyes, a fleeting tinge of longing for something else. Why, though? What could she not be happy with, being blessed with a pretty face and many desirable qualities? The dark-haired man decided to find out.

"Class, class!" Dilworth shouted, waving his withered hands around wildly, struggling to quiet the rambunctious group. "Please, listen!"

Sighing, almost everyone heeded his words, except for Angela, who made a noise of displeasure.

"Today we are learning..."

Jonathan tuned him out. There was no other way to stop the growing headache. He studied his noted from the mathematics course he was taking (far above standard levels).

Angela Shriver was practically chewing Samantha's ear off, talking about how she needed to go shopping once more, and finally Sam turned to her, saying, "Ang, I'm sorry, but I have to do well in this class! Please?"

The blonde slapped a hand over her mouth apologetically. "I'm sorry, Sammi, really. I get so carried away sometimes..." Despite what everyone thought, Angela was not an awful person, just slightly insecure, which led to her constant, useless babbling. Unless, of course, you got to know her, and then you would learn she was very kind, and in fact very smart.

"I know, it's fine. Don't worry; we'll have plenty of time to catch up in Drama!" The two chuckled before falling silent and carefully writing down anything important the professor said.

Samantha noticed a certain dark-haired student glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes, and once again she noted the extremely pale shade the iris was. A slight smile graced her lips as she struggled not to grin overzealously. She was not one to try and scare the boys off.

After class finally came to a close, she threw her green Biology notebook and the pen she'd used into her beloved canvas bag, a gift from her GiGi. As Dilworth dismissed them, she strode outside, waving good-bye to a few friends as she headed to her dorm room. She was surprised when she saw a figure, tall and lean, trekking along the foliage with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi, Jonathan!" Sam shouted, raising a hand in greeting. He stopped for a moment, then seeing who it was, jerked his head up in acknowledgement.

"Hey, Samantha." He called back. She took his response as encouragement, and started walking towards him, albeit uncertainly. He paused again, waiting for her to catch up to him. "How are you?" He said when she reached him.

"I'm doing great, thanks. Yourself?" Sam chirped, smiling nervously. She twisted the strap of her bag, then tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Everything is going well." An awkward silence settled between them as he stood, at least seven inches taller than her, glancing at the ground for a moment.

"Um..."

"Yes..."

"So..."

"I'm sorry, I'm-"

"Trying to find something to say. Same here." Crane smirked at her words.

"You should be ashamed. For being such an alleged socialite, you have yet to even start a simple conversation with me." He feigned shock and shot his eyebrows up.

Sam huffed a breath of air and blushed. "Well, saying 'hey, Jonathan' counts, right?"

"If you want to believe that."

"I do." Once more, silence. "We should talk more. That's why this is so awkward."

He shrugged. "That's probably it, yeah. I don't really talk to you because you don't talk to me."

"Oh, so I have to talk first?" She bit her lip, but the ends of her mouth curled up. It was fun, their banter. However uncomfortable it felt.

"Yes, well, I have to go. Talk to me later then." Jonathan grinned, genuinely, and waved at her again before starting to head to his dorm room.

"I'll make sure I initiate it." Samantha laughed and watched him go. "Bye!"


End file.
